Here is the proposed Add-on:
That City Council accept the introduction of the Confederate Monument Discussion, thereby beginning the time period of thirty-calendar days required between introduction of potential action concerning altering, moving, or removing of a historical resource and final action as required by Council Policy 4.31.
Full text: Proposed Add-On Item – Introduction to City Council per 4.31 Council Policy
They caved into anarchy with a dose of Studer. Next stop reparations.
Sloppy work. There is no such thing as “Council Policy 4.31.” The “4.31” refers to the section and page (section 4, page 31) in the 86-page document “Policies of the City Council.”
To add this item to this evening’s agenda, five of seven members of the City Council will have to vote to add it. It is ironic that it is being added with no public notice and especially that Councilwoman Sherri Myers is one of the three sponsors. For years, many years, she has complained to me about council members who ambush the public introducing agenda items just before council meetings. In 2019, Councilwoman Ann Hill voted against a proposal made by Mayor Grover Robinson in large part saying he had dropped it on them handing out his proposal a few minutes before the meeting. This is a shameful way to act.
There is nothing in the agenda item that confirms that the Confederate Monument meetings the “criteria.” It likely does but there is nothing such as a memorandum of law from the City Attorney that verifies that the monument meets the criteria. On the other hand, if the monument meets the criteria, that then would make its removal problematic.
The agenda item does not appear to trigger the “minimum of thirty calendar day” period described in the policy because it does not propose any of the specific actions limited to “name, rename, alter, establish, move or remove a qualifying historical resources.”
As I have long understood the policy, and read the current add-on agenda item, the 30 calendar day cooling off period lasts until 30 calendar days after the City Council first considers taking a specific action such as removing the Confederate Monument.
Assuming the City Council votes at its next meeting on July 16 to remove the Confederate Memorial, and perhaps purge the city of all mention of every thing and every one associated with the Confederacy such as Moreno, etc., the city would not be able to take action to remove the Confederate Monument until 30 calendar days later.
Importantly, the new City Charter effective since January 1, 2010 gives city voters vast but not unchecked powers to challenge actions of the City Council by referendum. If the City Council were to vote on July 16 to remove the Confederate Memorial, and to do so it would have to first figure out the cost, city voters could challenge the action and then from that day have 60 days to gather petition signatures.
My long-standing recommendation on this issue remains to put the question to city voters on the November ballot. Do it every two years if necessary. However, to be consistent, the City Council should remove everything owned by the city or on city property related to slavery (and perhaps segregation too) to include the DeLuna and Gates statutes and rename all of the parks and streets associated with a slave holder to include Jackson Square, Moreno Street, etc.